Canada Guy

There was a rumour that an American retired general was a member of the Wagner group. www.barrons.com/amp/news/ex-us-marine-general-among-russia-s-wagner-mercenaries-founder-01669401607?espv=1 Is there any evidence and would this be illegal? I imagine that there are NATO member former soldiers in Wagner group but could they be prosecuted if they ever returned home (or tried in absentia?)

What are these 'Phillies' and 'Eagles' you speak of ? They appear to be some sort of totem or 'sports' team?

Re: National characteristics Was there also some behind the scenes adjustments for the Russians in CMRT? I seem to recall that there was a penalty for breaking Russian squads. and not a national characteristics but sort of, is the characteristic of having a strong vs weak NCO structure I don't really see this modeled in CM. but strong NCO/tactical flexibility would apply to modern US, Germany 1941-43 and it would be weak in modern Russians in Ukraine. I dont see this in CM but for these armies, out of C&C should be more detrimental for countries without a strong NCO structure. This appears to be the one of the larger detrimental factors in the current Russian army. Read 'Armies of Sand' to see how this impacts a force. Israeli army, good NCO structure and tactical flexibility, Arabs bad (leading to little motivation as they just waited for higher levels to make all the decisions- no local flexibility in response). Maybe we need an additional Modifier for tactical flexibility that changes on the battlefield as C&C, NCOs etc wax and wane during the battle. impacting firepower output, listening to your orders, etc.

Canada announces a new arms package of what we do best, arty and anoraks, mittens to munitions. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6613921?espv=1

There was a terrible oil rail car explosion in Canada a few years ago. The blast radius was 1km and was devastating incl destroying 30 buildings. Lac-Mégantic rail disaster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-Mégantic_rail_disaster I cannot see this getting better for Russia.

I have learnt more about boots/socks in cold weather than I thought possible - but great tips when I venture out for coffee in -50C weather again. What could be interesting is if Russia does pick up NATO gear in Afghanistan. CMBS would need to add the Humvee in Russian colours. I have read a lot of western kit was left in Afghanistan. Is there really anything of value that the Russians could use? body armour? boots? bridging equipment? This could be the first war where both combatants started with Soviet gear and ended up both fighting with NATO gear.

Kinophile, you mentioned snowmobiles, but all the UA army needs is a few Aimo Koivunen https://allthatsinteresting.com/aimo-koivunen The references to the winter weather are interesting. I live in a part of Canada that is on average -20C in Feb but last year it dripped down to around -51C (-60F for our American friends). I assume parts of Ukraine have the same weather patterns. I was freezing after 45 minutes outside in great gear and good winter boots and keeping up a good pace to keep warm. I am not joking when I say that Canada should ship winter gear to Ukraine instead of anything else. General winter could be a deciding factor.

This loss of the 1.5 mil winter uniforms reminds me of another blunder on the Eastern front where these were not needed as the war would be over by autumn. This could be a real disaster as the weather cools and Russian forces are forced to huddle under tents they had to bring themselves. if they really have no winter uniforms, I cannot see this going much past Dec. The West should just start shipping winter gear to Ukr. Winter could be more decisive than another HIMAR.

Steve, i appreciate you not specifically promoting CMBS during the conflict and I understand that you continue to work behind the scenes. But you mentioned a bone and although we are not expecting something soon, can you expand on this? I was looking forward to CMBN and it's new DLC so anything to tide us over would be appreciated.

Is NATO standard equipment not all metric? A mix, or all American imperial? I had assumed all metric as all but one country uses SI but may be wrong as American equipment is probably the most prevalent.

Even one of the larger oil producing provinces in Canada (Saskatchewan) is discussing modular nuclear reactors. I need to understand the differences between these and old style reactors but am really hoping that the recent announcements in fusion will be viable in 20 years. Now that would be a game changer. Not to become too political but the last US administration had me seriously thinking 'if only China was democratic, I would way sooner have them for a neighbour and ally'. I don't think Americans realized just how much good will they lost in the last administration. If this was a reaction by one of America's strongest allies, I do not see how the last govt could have pulled off such a strong coalition supporting Ukraine (assuming they even wanted to)

Thanks for the info on Italy. Good article Steve and other forum poster's insight. Italy is almost the other side of the moon in Central Canada. We though have so many Ukrainians here, you can't throw a stick without hitting a perogie. AlsatianFelix, I am amazed you got through the Tooze book. It has been suggested for my Military Book Club but the book has never gotten past the 1st round of voting. What I am looking forward to is a book in 5 years with some post-war analysis. There are some great authors out there given time and access to this war's unending stream of info.

1 - I am shocked that Italy has done so little compared to its GDP. If they have supplied items, it has either been very little or completely off the radar. There can't be that many pro-Putinites or I will have to scratch it off my bucket list 2 - If US provided Intel about the invasion to UKR, why was Kherson Oblast allowed to be so ill-prepared or allowed to act contrary to what was needed (e.g. scheduling unit training maneuvers without ordinance/ammo when RU about to attack)?

Steve - the forcing of default is a bigger deal than I think most people realise. This would push Russia out of the financial markets for years and would have a very serious negative long term impact upon Russia. This could spur on the oligarchs more than simple sanctions. JonS - yes a 90mm cherry bomb but since the Switchblade is not even that powerful, precision would have a power all of its own. Those repurposed AT grenades cannot be any bigger - maybe I'm wrong. I was thinking light and precise may outweigh large and unwieldy.

Steve - the forcing of default is a bigger deal than I think most people realise. This would push Russia out of the financial markets for years and would have a very serious negative long term impact upon Russia. This could spur on the oligarchs more than simple sanctions. JonS - yes a 90mm cherry bomb but since the Switchblade is not even that powerful, precision would have a power all of its own. Those repurposed AT grenades cannot be any bigger - maybe I'm wrong. I was thinking light and precise may outweigh large and unwieldy.